A bold vision requires a pioneering partner. Our journey with The Harbour School (THS) began not with a finished product, but with a shared belief: that to truly serve students, we must first understand them. This case study tells the story of how a courageous school leader, a promising technology, and a group of Grade 6 students started a movement to replace educational guesswork with data-informed understanding.


The Partnership: A Leap of Faith in a Shared Vision

It started in April, when I first met Dr. Jadis Blurton, the Head of School at The Harbour School. Jadis is one of the most confident and adventurous school leaders I know. At that time, Knobase was a quiet, stealth project with HKU, armed with a prototype and a vision: to turn student AI chats into actionable insights for educators. There were no public materials or past success cases.

But Jadis and her team saw the potential. They trusted the mission. Together, we launched a pilot program from early May to mid-June, focused on the Grade 6 class as they prepared for a Model United Nations (MUN) conference. The platform was deployed on a custom, school-branded domain — chat.ths.edu.hk — immediately creating a secure and trusted environment for the students. (Learn more about the school-branded AI customization)


Key Insight #1: The AI is the New Front Door


One of the most immediate and fascinating insights we discovered was a fundamental shift in student behavior. Today's "AI Native" students search the school AI before the website.

We saw students using the Knobase AI as their very first point of contact for logistical information. They asked how to sign up for activities, how to buy a yearbook, and for simple things like the school's email address. This directly addressed a pain point every teacher knows: the endless stream of repetitive questions from students and parents.  

By feeding school manuals and website content into the AI, THS can transform these documents into an interactive agent, boosting staff productivity and providing the instant answers their community now expects.  


Key Insight #2: The AI as a Deep Learning Partner


The pilot was accelerated to help students prepare for their MUN conference, and the data proved our hypothesis in a powerful way. While the main "The Harbour School" bot was the most frequently used for quick questions, the specialized "MUN Simulator" and "MUN Expert" bots saw much deeper engagement. Teachers were given an easy AI agent creation tool to create specialized AI agents as necessary.

With message-per-chat ratios soaring to 18 and 22 respectively, it was clear students were involved in extended, complex dialogues—practicing diplomacy, exploring historical contexts, and receiving iterative feedback. This confirmed a key strategy: a successful school AI must serve as both a highly efficient information hub and a deep pedagogical partner for project-based learning.  


Beyond Academics: AI for Literacy, Safety, and Wellness

Our collaboration went beyond just tracking usage. With Dr. Blurton's background as a professional psychologist, there was a shared interest in understanding how AI could support student well-being.

  • AI Literacy, Demystified: We found that true AI literacy isn't about knowing hundreds of tools; it's about mastering the art of the prompt. Our "One-Click Prompt Scoring" feature gave students instant feedback on their communication, revealing a school-wide pattern: high clarity in their requests, but a need for more specificity. This gave teachers a clear, actionable area to focus on for digital literacy instruction.  

  • Proactive Safety & Digital Citizenship: In the age of AI, teaching students what not to say is critical. Our platform's automatic flagging feature proved essential, identifying instances of inappropriate language and, in one critical case, a query related to self-harm. This allowed for immediate, appropriate escalation, turning the AI into a proactive tool for student safeguarding.  


The Human Touch: A Physical Report for Real Leaders

In a world obsessed with dashboards, we delivered our findings in a physical magazine titled, "Your Guide to Truly Understand The Students with Data." We believe technology should be considerate, not just efficient. This human-friendly report translated complex data into a clear narrative, making the insights accessible and actionable for busy school leaders.

The approach worked. Jadis, who had almost never used AI before, was recorded engaging with the platform over 100 times. We made AI approachable, insightful, and even fun.  


The Next Chapter

The pilot was a resounding success. We captured over 1,400 messages, providing countless insights into the THS community. Now, we are thrilled to announce that for the upcoming school year, Knobase is being deployed to all 300+ members of the THS community.  

Our partnership with The Harbour School proves that when you give a school the right tools to listen, you empower them to build a truly responsive, empathetic, and data-informed educational environment. The era of guesswork is over.

Christopher Lee

Founder & CEO

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